I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order:—
Winter Time Order, 1986.
The order complies with the EC Third Council Directive on summer time arrangements concerning the harmonisation of the summer time period throughout EC member states. It is the third order of this type. The previous ones were the Winter Time Order, 1981, and the Winter Time Order, 1982, which the House approved on 10 March 1981 and 23 February 1983 respectively.
The principal effect of the order is that summer time will begin two weeks later in 1986 and one week later in 1987 and 1988 than prescribed under our primary legislation in this area, that is to say, the Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971, (No. 17 of 1971). A minor consequence of the order will be that the time of change from winter time to summer time and vice versa will be 1 o'clock in the morning Greenwich Mean Time rather than 2 o'clock as provided for in the 1971 Act.
If the order is approved by both Houses which I earnestly hope it will be, it means that we will have a similar period of summer time in 1986, 1987 and 1988 as we had for the past five years, i.e., from the last Sunday in March to the fourth Sunday in October. The actual summer time periods will be 30 March 1986 to 26 October 1986; 28 March 1987 to 25 October 1987 and 27 March 1988 to 23 October 1988. The reasoning behind the efforts at harmonisation of summer time in the EC is that such harmonisation would help the efficiency of transport, communications, commerce and contacts generally between member states.
Discussions with a view to standardising the summer time provisions in EC member states have been in train for several years. There are various problems, including of course the fact that natural time in this country and in the United Kingdom is substantially different from that in many of the continental member states. While the Commission would prefer a common date for beginning and ending summer time in all member states, it had not expected the success it has had with harmonisation to date. The Commission, therefore, is prepared to continue as an experiment for a further three years the same system which operated in 1983, 1984 and 1985. This, in effect, means that the summer time period in the continental member states should end one month earlier than in Ireland and United Kingdom, i.e., on the last Sunday of September instead of the fourth Sunday in October.
This is a most favourable arrangement from this country's point of view as we have always favoured as long a summer time period as possible and the public, when consulted about the provisions of the Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971, were in favour of having our summer time period synchronised with that of the United Kingdom. The arrangement also suits the continental member states who have always favoured a shorter summer time period. I now call on the House to approve the order.
